Late January 2022 Forgotten Felines Foundation responded to a call for help. A kitten had been found under a log and the rest of its litter and mum had been ripped up by dogs on a farm. The young couple that found the kitten realised she was very young and knew she needed special care. Based on her still blue eyes and development we established she was about four weeks old, likely born on or around Christmas Day.
She was soooo cute, with her blue eyes, and just discovered she had four paws but on her first night, she moved away from the heat pads and fluffy blankets and became very cold. It was noticed the left side of her nose was mucousy and the left eye would sometimes water up. Always the left side. She was revived the next morning. However, the same thing kept repeating. Kittens will often do this when unwell and we wondered if something was wrong with her. She also struggled to feed off the bottle. Every meal was a fight to get adequate food into her. She became so cold one night she almost died, it was not helped that getting food in was such a struggle. She almost lost her life a couple of times.
After a day at the vets, it was decided to force her to remain on heat pads overnight by sleeping in a cat carrier. We had a mother cat with kittens, two weeks younger than Harlow. It was decided to risk breaking isolation and introduced Harlow to the litter. The kittens and mum cat welcomed her, she snuggled up and was even seen suckling off the mum cat. Initially, we thought GREAT, a success but our dreams were smashed the following night when yet again Harlow separated and left the heat of the family and became wedged between the crate and the litter tray. She weakly called out in the morning for help. She was so cold her little body was stiff. Back to the vets we went. Once more she was revived. The scabby bit on her nose was pointed out but suggested it was just irritation from the mucous on that side.
She damaged her leg, right on the hock, when stuck behind a litter tray. Instead of healing, it became worse, and the scab on her nose kept growing. She has been to the vets so many times. Has had to wear head collars, and be isolated. Whenever the antibiotics stopped she crashed, each time we almost lost her.
Multiple tests, including skin scrapings, and multiple blood tests have been done. The scab on her nose keeps growing. At this point, Harlow is almost six months old. We know she has tested negative for FIV/Felv twice. She is growing opportunistic bacteria but it is not the primary cause of her problem. She has been tested for fungal growth and it’s negative. We are now having to start her on prednisone which can be dangerous in a kitten her age. If this does not work we are looking at a biopsy. She is also booked to see one of New Zealand’s top feline specialists. She is an amazing, sweet, chilled little kit – rapidly becoming an adolescent cat, despite all the prodding and poking.
The costs of her care have been significant and we need help to get her across the finish line, resolve the mystery of her ongoing issues and place her into a loving home. Please help us. Please help little Harlow. She is such a little battler we are not giving up on her.
Every penny counts, if a few people donated the cost of a cup of coffee it would help us tremendously and may save Harlows life.